“I didn’t mean to. My powers were out of control thanks to you and Chase. You sent him after me. How was that playing by the rules?”
“Easy,” Alex whispered, standing at my side, still holding his burned shoulder.
“I never said I wouldn’t try to tempt you with more power.” He said it so matter-of-factly, like he believed he’d done nothing wrong. Maybe that was the problem. Hades was unaccountable for his actions. He didn’t answer to anyone.
“You’re basing your argument on a technicality? Is that the best you can do?” I stopped mixing my blood. Instead, I pushed all the poisoned blood to one corner of my body and focused on the life-restoring part of my power. I touched Alex’s shoulder. At first, his face scrunched in pain, but then it eased. He smiled at me.
“Thanks.” I’d healed his burn. I did the same thing to my left hand, healing the blisters.
“Impressive. I was under the impression only Medusa could heal the Ophi.” Something in those words made my brain spin into overdrive. Medusa. Hades hated that we had her soul. She was so powerful, and when she died, that power should’ve been turned over to him. Only we kept it, with her soul, locked in the statue. The statue. I was right. Medusa had the answers I needed. She was the answer.
“I’m a lot like Medusa. But you already know that, don’t you?” I narrowed my eyes at him. “That’s why you’ve been gunning for me. After we made our initial deal, you found out about my special connection to Medusa. You realized that I could give you what she never did. That’s the real reason you want me here. To drain my powers and keep them for yourself.”
“And the prize goes to…” He laughed. “Just because you figured out why I want you dead doesn’t mean you can stop me from getting what I want.” He waved his hand, and Melodie shot backward. The gate to the Fields of Asphodel flew open, and she was hurled inside. It was terrible to watch, but even worse to hear. Instead of screaming, she yelled my name. She wanted me to help her, but I just watched her go.
“You know, Jodi Marshall, I could make this worth your while.” Hades circled me, stopping directly behind me on the second time around. With a wave of his hand, Matt’s image appeared next to Alex. Hades leaned toward my right ear and whispered. “Which one of them do you truly love? Are you happy with Matt right now?” His hot breath sent chills down my neck and spine. “I could make Matt human again in his own body, and you could stay human, too. All you’d need to do is relinquish your Ophi soul to me. This would all end. No more torture. You’d have the normal life you’ve always wanted.”
I did want a normal life. I wanted the pain and suffering to end. This war with Hades couldn’t go on. We’d all end up dead. I’d already lost so much. My blood tingled in my veins, almost as if it was speaking to me, begging me not to give in to Hades, to what was easy.
“I’ll give you until tomorrow night to decide. After that, it’s all-out war.” He walked around me so we were face to face again. “I’ve been going easy on you, but if you don’t agree to this offer, you’ll see a different side of me. And rest assured, I will get what I want, one way or another.” He waved his hand, and his suit jacket once again swirled around him in a cloud of smoke until he was gone. Matt’s image was also gone.
Alex rushed to me, taking my hands. “What did he whisper to you? And what was with the image of Matt?”
“He wants to make a deal with me.”
Alex’s eyebrows rose. “Another deal?”
“I know. I’m getting really sick of them.”
Alex’s face hardened as he pieced together what the deal was. “He wants you to choose Matt and stay human.” He nodded. “Maybe you should do it.”
“What? No!” I cupped his face in my hands. “Alex, I won’t leave you here.”
“You do know that’s not the same as telling me you love me.” He was questioning my feelings for him. He thought my human emotions had taken control of me. That I wanted Matt now.
Arianna turned away, giving us a little privacy.
“I do love you. Nothing is going to change that.” Change it, no, but it wasn’t exactly that simple, either. I’d been kissing Matt before I came here. I couldn’t deny I had feelings for him. Even though it was my human soul acting on those emotions, I’d still technically cheated on Alex. After the whole thing with Chase, I didn’t know if Alex could handle this too.
“Alex, there’s something I have to tell you. It’s been eating me up inside.” I wasn’t sure which shook more, my voice or my hands. Alex laced his fingers through mine, giving me the strength to continue. “When I’m focused on my human soul, it’s like I’m a different person. The person I would’ve been if I hadn’t come into my powers.”
He stared at me, letting me get this out in my own time.
I felt my blood bubbling under my skin. God, how could I ever give up that feeling? The power? Alex? All of this? “I’m like two people. When I’m here with you, I want nothing but you. I want to be Ophi for the rest of my life.” Tears trickled down my cheek, and Alex raised our hands to wipe them away. “But when I’m human, I can’t help having human emotions. I feel what I felt before all this happened.”
“You feel what you felt for Matt.” His voice was soft and full of hurt.
He knew? “How did you—?”
“Tony told me. He said all your feelings for Matt would resurface. That the longer you two were together, the more you’d remember how you used to love him. And when he saw you with Matt’s sister…”
“I didn’t love him, at least not like that. I think I could have. No. I know I could have if I hadn’t met you. But I did meet you, and I love you, Alex.”
“It’s okay, Jodi. I’m not mad. That’s not who you are anymore. This is you. Right here, with me.” He leaned forward and pressed his lips to mine. I melted into him. This was what I wanted. I deepened the kiss, wanting to lose myself in him.
He gently pulled away, looking off into the distance. “Unless you want to take Hades up on his offer. You’d be free from all of this. He’d leave you alone.”
“No. I don’t ever want to be free from you. Not having you would be worse than being in Hell.”
He pulled me to him again, wrapping his arms around me. “You’re running out of time. The longer you’re away, the more pissed-off Hades gets.”
“I know. I’m going to Mason and then straight to Medusa. I’ll have an answer tonight.” I had to. Otherwise, Mom was dead. Hades would take her, and I’d be parentless.
“I wish there was something I could do to help you. Do you think there’s any way you could raise me? I mean, I’ve died before.”
“No way. It would probably kill you, and in a way I wouldn’t be able to fix.” I rubbed his arms. “I refuse to lose you, too.”
“I can’t imagine Matt’s really been a help to you.”
No, it was more like I was helping him, and he was confusing the hell out of me. “He’s trying to get used to being human in someone else’s body. While I’m waiting to hear back from Mason, I’m getting Matt set up for his new life.”
“Does he understand you won’t be in it?” That was the million-dollar question.
I lowered my eyes. I couldn’t lie to him.
“That’s what I thought. Even the nice guy can become that guy when the girl he loves is on the line.” He sighed, trying to stay calm.
“He feels lost right now. He’s scared, and I understand that. He’s going to outlive everyone around him. It’s depressing. I can’t help wondering if I made a mistake bringing him back. Maybe he doesn’t want this for himself. Maybe I’m just torturing him more.”